Manchester Magazine manchester magazine fall 2019 for joomag | Page 15
MU | F e a t u r e s
To advance its health science bona fides,
Manchester this fall moved its Master of
Athletic Training (MAT) program from North
Manchester to Fort Wayne. Enrollment grew
immediately. Indiana’s second-largest city
not only has more housing and recreation
options for MAT students, it offers greater
potential for clinical experiences with the city’s
professional sports teams, sports medicine
clinics, hospitals and industrial settings.
As for nursing, Johnson is an ideal person
to develop the program. A registered nurse,
she is the former president of two health
care colleges on the East Coast and holds a
doctorate in higher education management
from the University of Pennsylvania and
master’s degrees in nursing and public
relations. In her 20 years in higher education,
Johnson has specialized in developing health
science programs – from certificates to
doctoral degrees.
Manchester has never had a nursing program,
but graduates have gone into nursing by
earning advanced degrees at other universities.
One of them is Mary Boudreau ’84, a
biology-chemistry major. She attended
medical school at Michigan State University
for a year, then served at a homeless shelter
as a VISTA volunteer before a career in social
work.
She was 46 when she became a registered
nurse and has since earned her master’s and
doctoral degrees in nursing. Though Boudreau
doesn’t regret the choices she made along the
way, she thinks she may have chosen nursing
as a major if Manchester had offered it then.
She’s delighted that they’re pursuing it now.
“I think there are going to be a lot of good
opportunities there,” she says.
Boudreau works for Sparrow Hospital System
in Lansing, Mich., and spends 90 percent of
her time providing primary care at a health
clinic for senior citizens. The other 10 percent
she devotes to people with Hepatitis C and
HIV who live 100 miles to the north in a rural
county with only one ambulance. “There’s
such a big need for rural care,” she says.
Boudreau also sees a need for the kind of
education that Manchester is so good at
providing. “I think the whole liberal arts
mentality is really helpful in nursing,” she
says. “You look at the person, the person in
the environment, the social justice aspect of
health care.” Manchester teaches students to
be agents of change, she says, and that will
become a critical skill “because no matter
what, our health care system has got to
change.”
Change is coming to Manchester, too, with
the addition of more health science programs,
adds McFadden. “The initiative aligns with
our mission, reflects our traditions, and will
prepare more Manchester graduates for
high-demand careers that improve the human
condition.”
By Melinda Lantz ’81
Associate Professor Erin Foreman, who is also director of sports medicine
and associate athletic director at MU, advises Lexi Furnish ’18 how to tape
Sydney Thompson ’19. Lexi graduated with a Master of Athletic Training
degree and Sydney with a bachelor’s degree.
Manchester | 15